


Don't Starve At Freddy's Trollhunters

by timecats



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game), Five Nights at Freddy's, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Crying Child is Michael Afton, Daddy Issues, Eggs Benedict is Michael Afton, Five Nights at Freddy's 3, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator | Five Nights at Freddy's 6, Gen, I forgot a few tags so i am updating this, Light Angst, Merlin is a jerk, Minor Jim Lake Jr/Claire Nuñez, Multiple Personalities, Near Death, Older Brother's name is Nathan in this, POV Multiple, Post-Season 3 (Trollhunters), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, There are two Williams, Troll Jim Lake Jr., William Afton and Dave Miller and Purple Guy are the Same Person, William Carter is Maxwell, Wilson had two personalities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-05-02 05:19:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timecats/pseuds/timecats
Summary: When Team Trollhunters learn of strange occurrences happening at an animatronic storage facility they go to investigate. Little do they know they get themselves into a mess of murders, missing children, spring locks, restless spirits, haunted pizzerias, and robot spaghetti.Michael Afton is requested by his father in a phone call to work at Circus Baby's Rental as a technician. His father is very clear of what Michael must do, put the pieces back together. Michael discovers the secrets his father kept from him and is determined to undo his father's crimes.Close by a portal opens, a portal to a realm called the Constant. For years the Survivors fought for their lives, dying over and over again to wake up in a different landscape. Now they have finally escaped, but their nightmares are not over yet, the horrors they wanted to escape from followed them and right around the corner is a nightmare they are yet to face.





	1. Springtraped

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This story is the author's interpretation of the FNAF lore that is inspired by theories and their own personal headcanons. The timeline here will have similarities and differences to the one generally accepted by FNAF theorists. Beware spoilers to well, anything in FNAF and seasons 2 and 3 of Trollhunters.  
> Please inform the author of any missed typos, the author looked it over many times and sometimes they miss a mistake they made with spelling.

It was now nighttime, and the killer's plan was in full motion at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. William Afton needed to see how the mascots he helped to create were given life. His first four victims roamed these halls looking for vengeance against him, or whomever they think is him to be more precise. _'They are like animals, fitting for them in their current state, possessing robots that resemble animals. They think every nightguard is me, they are just as much of a killer now as I am after they caused the Bite of 87.'_

William smiled as he walked by the animatronics who despised him so much, he admired the result of his handiwork. Thanks to the knowledge he learned when he lost his own daughter who was scooped by his creation, Baby, Afton knew that these animatronics can hold the spirits of those who died. Only if his youngest son didn't witness the death of his big sister, yet the trauma did serve William well when he needed to scare his son away from the restaurant. He didn't pride himself in giving his son waking nightmares every night, but it kept him alive. At least until his son's birthday where he was bitten and died. William promised to put him back together, _'I succeeded in putting him back together, yet he doesn't know anything of it.'_

Afton made his way towards the backroom, the setting for his murders, "The suspect always comes back to the scene of his crime" he told himself with a sinister grin on his face. Afton just had to hide in the parts and service room and wait, wait until his plan was fully set in motion. Luckily for him, he didn't have to wait that long as Freddy Fazbear or to be precise, Gabriel. The face of Fazbear Entertainment started to glitch out, and it was Afton's cue to begin to dismantle the brown bear. He held his crank in his hands tightly and begun to take apart Freddy, starting with his face. Afton didn't want to face the fate Jeremy Fitzgerald had after all, so better safe than sorry. He then took the limbs off, he wondered if the haunted bear felt pain and if it did then Afton relished in the pain it felt. The deed was done, he hid in his safe room again to wait for his next robotic victim.

Bonnie came next, the one who shared a name with the victim of the Bite of 87, Jeremy. Afton ripped off Bonny's face, remembering how withered the robot used to look as William preceded to rip the head off. When Afton deemed the dismantling of Bonnie finished he waited for the next animatronic, Chica.

Oh, how William held pride in his first case of child murder, luring her to the back with the promise of the child's dead dog. That dog was his first experiment with the substance he called remnant. Bonding the dog to the creation called Mangle and showing little Susie it, her screams could not be heard as he murdered her in the very room he hid in now. Chica came slower than the last two, but once she was in the room William got right to work. Dismantling her in the same order as he did with Freddy. There was only one animatronic left now, Foxy, the most dangerous of the animatronics.

William saw Fritz, or Foxy as he is called now, run from Pirate Cove to the parts and service room. William wanted Foxy to see what happened to his friends, he waited for a moment and snuck up behind the fox. William knocked Foxy's jaw off and Foxy made a robotic scream and lunged his hook at the one who killed him, but Afton was ready and used a nearby ax to cut off the hook before he decapitated the fox.

"At last, you will serve a greater purpose to me as I want to see what makes you live forever. You will never get your vengeance, and you will never see the light of day ever again!" William boasted his premature triumph. For the spirits of the missing children were not done yet, a fifth ghost came into the room and William know exactly who it is, "Cassidy, you can't be here, you can't!"

Fear filled the murderous Afton's mind, the ghosts chased him into the parts and service room as the rain fell in the decaying building. William didn't notice as he saw the suit he used to murder the children, he ran towards it and put it on. William made these suits and knew how to work them, he believed he was safe inside the spring lock bonnie suit he used so often. William laughed maniacally before one of the locks came undone due to the moisture of the room. William struggled to breathe as spring lock by spring lock punctured his body and organs, he struggled to move, he struggled to breathe, he struggled to speak.

"Somebody please help me!" William managed to yell, the ghosts looked down upon him, another spring lock punctured his eyes yet he could still somehow see through them, even if blood obscured most of his vision.

"Now you will know the pain of watching your loved ones suffer, this wasn't what we had in mind murderer!" Fritz's voice echoed in the room.

Susie spoke up next, "You told me my puppy was alive, but you were the one who ran him over weren't you, just like you made him into Mangle! You are a liar, an evil man who takes from others!"

"I had to watch my parents look for me and I couldn't tell them that I was there," Gabriel cried, "They could not hear me ask for help, and you ask for help?"

"Who would help a killer like you, it's your fault Mike died because you couldn't stop your oldest son from bullying our friend," Jeremey scolded William, "You responded by killing us, for what? If Michael knew who you killed to bring him back he would be horrified."

Cassidy stood there in silence until she approached the spring trapped man and whispered in his ear, "I can't wait till you go to hell, you should not have killed me, Mr. Afton, I will not rest until you are suffering every single second for your crimes. I will make you pay for what you did to me, Uncle William."

* * *

 

Years later, William is still alive in that got forsaken spring lock suit. The walls were not sealed yet, and now Springtrap can make his next move. He went out of the Parts and Service room for the first time in what felt like forever and grabbed the phone to make a call to his son.

"Hello Michael, it's your father William. I have something I need you to do."

Springtrap also noticed the time, 12:47 p.m., yet it was dark out still. The sky blood red with no stars, the sight seemed to bring a smile to the decaying William Afton.

Elsewhere a battle continued, the Trollhunters were fighting Morgana, Gunmar, and Angor Rot to end the Eternal Night. Parallel to this in another realm, twelve people struggle to survive in a realm of nightmares and monsters, hoping for a chance to escape the cycle of death and rebirth they were trapped in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter is more of a prologue than anything, most of the FNAF lore here is inspired by theories or my own personal headcanons. The end part takes place ten years after William Afton is sprung and I believe he found some way to contact Michael. In this Michael is not Jeremy or Fritz since Fnaf 2 happens before Afton becomes Springtrap in this and Michael gets scooped after William becomes Springtrap.
> 
> Later chapters will be much longer than this. When I write prologues I try to make them as short, yet detailed as possible. Later chapters will be 3000 or more words with my limit being 10,000 words in a single chapter.


	2. Accused of Haunting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes before you start reading this chapter, Michael Afton is the Crying Child in this. So how did Michael get the job, and where did the older brother go after FNAF 4?
> 
> I believe the older brother was working for Afton Robotics. 
> 
> I also didn't want to confuse people by calling him Mr. Afton for the whole chapter, so I gave him the name Nathan. I don't want a purple guy/pink guy/orange guy situation with there being three Mr. Afton's. I already have two Williams in this, that confusion is enough in my opinion.

It had been a year since the eternal night, and Jim still wasn’t used to his new life as a half-troll. There were times he didn’t particularly feel like himself, his anger would quickly turn into rage and he growls and bares his fangs at the ones who angered him. He hated it when Claire saw him like act out in that way and even though Claire reassures him that she wasn’t scared by the sight he still hated himself for losing himself in anger. Merlin was no help at all to the teen’s adjustment to his new life, telling him to figure it out on his own. Blinky had better things to do, but always put time off when he noticed Jim was having difficulties with getting adjusted.

Ever since Morgana and Gunmar were defeated there was this odd peace that was found. They were able to finish the New Trollmarket in less than a year and most of the trolls were settled down in their new home. Jim seemed to find himself resolving arguments more than doing what he used to have to do every night after he found the amulet. Jim missed home and missed his mother, Toby, and Aaarrrgg all at once in his life. They were still in Arcadia, and apparently, Strickler and his mom were now dating again but Jim didn’t mind since Strickler does seem to really care about his mother and she feels the same way towards him. If his mother wasn’t doing the cooking, then things were going fine over there as well. The biggest threat presently was the Gum Gums who were not affected by Gunmar’s death, the death that killed many once innocent trolls who were touched by Gunmar the Black’s blade had corrupted. Jim felt responsible for those deaths for he was the one to kill Gunmar, yet no one seemed to be bothered by the thought like Jim was. He also remembered Angor Rot betraying Morgana as he died smiling when his Sword of Daylight impaled the assassin. The assassin who witnessed Jim’s horns grow when the two fought near the Arcadia Dam and took away his triumbric stones temporary, Angor Rot sacrificed himself to defeat the one he once served. That week was the worst Jim ever had since his father left him and his mother, for he lost a brother figure and a potential ally. These are the thoughts that drove him to find a quiet space to think, so he sat on a ledge of the cavern alone with his thoughts until he had enough and came back down, which he soon regretted.

“I’m incredibly sorry sir, but we are not responsible for any of the strange occurrences you speak of,” he heard Blinky say to a tall man who wore a grey shirt, “We didn’t even know about such a thing happening until you came down to accuse us.”

“You can’t prove otherwise, I’m sure my father wouldn’t handle this as lightly as I am,” the man spoke, “My father was strict on both his kids and his co-workers, I will use the same force if…” a ring was heard from inside his pocket and he rushed to answer it, “Sorry, it’s my ‘brother’. I have to answer this.”

Jim approached Blinky and the stranger, who gave Jim a glare as he talked to someone on the phone.

“Who is this?” Jim asked his mentor.

Blinky sighed, “This is Mr. Afton, the C.E.O of a place called Afton Robotics, he thinks we did something to their machines.”

“Michael, how would he even of contacted you, dad is dead, if you wanted to work as a technician you just had to ask me and I would have given you the spot,” there was a tone of annoyance in Mr. Afton’s voice, “You can start working there in a few days, but I have some really important business to attend to rather than talk to you all day.”

Jim looked the man over, he seemed angry at his brother during their whole conversation. There was also a scent of fear coming from him, this man feared his own brother for some odd reason.

“Now where was I, if you want to prove you are not the culprits than you will have to find the culprit,” the pale man gave Jim a cocky smile, “Luckily my sibling will be there, and you can start by keeping an eye on him…apparently he think that our dad is still walking, if he is then he is walking dead for sure.”

The man laughed at his own sick joke, and Jim grew furious at this twisted person and almost lost himself in his rage. He bared his fangs and made a growl that made him jump back a bit, “It’s just a joke, seriously your worse than Michael with these jokes.”

Jim regained himself, yet secretly smiled inside for giving this jerk a bit of a scare, “I don’t think you're supposed to play those kinds of jokes on your own brother.”

“Well, I could be doing worse to him but I don’t for I know what can come from doing that too well,” the man’s voice trembled a bit, “Oh, just for the growling I will expect you to be the one to try to clear this place’s name, have fun with my freaky brother you two will get along so well.”

The man smiled to himself as he left, “Oh here is the address of the place, I expect you to be there by let’s say 11:30 at night.”

Jim glared at the man in the grey shirt as he was escorted out of Trollmarket after he put a card in Jim’s hand. Jim looked at the card for a moment and read:

_Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental_

_Afton Robotics_

On the other side was the address, and it was surprisingly not far from the entrance into the New Troll Market. Jim never saw a facility anywhere near where this address stated other than an old abandoned house in the middle of the woods. Jim had a bad feeling about the house, so he never really bothered to check it out, but he swore that when he was near it there was a high-pitched, noise that bothered Jim’s heightened hearing. He promised himself to not to do the job alone, once Claire was done with her shopping, he would bring this up to her. There was something very off about that area of New Jersey, and now it was time for the Trollhunters to go investigate, starting off with this Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental.

* * *

 

The time was ten fifty at night, the day had arrived where Jim and Claire would begin investigating for two things: evidence that troll kind had nothing to do with the strange occurrences and the high pitch sound that grew louder as Jim approached the meeting site. They would be thirty minutes early, but it didn’t matter to them. Mr. Afton was very clear about what would happen if they were late or exactly on time, yet Jim was more infuriated with the man for his treatment of his brother than anything. They didn’t have to wait that long for Mr. Afton and another man to arrive.

Mr. Afton smirked, “I didn’t think you would come, Trollslayer.”

“It’s the Trollhunter, and my name is Jim if you do not mind,” the tone of the Trollhunter’s voice was followed with a slight growl.

“Well, this is my brother, won’t you introduce yourself?” he gestured over to the man with a purple t-shirt. Jim could swear that the man’s posture was a little too straight and there was a faint scent of metal on him, yet Jim didn’t think anything of it at the time.

Mr. Afton’s brother spoke with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, “I…I am Michael, but you can just call me Mike. I thought you said this job was done alone, Nathan?”

“I just thought my little brother needed some company other than animatronics, I know how terrified of them you can be Mikey,” Nathan’s voice scoffed, “I’m sure when dad designed these he made it so they couldn’t bite anyone’s head off, if that’s what you are afraid of.”

“Ha ha ha. Very funny, Nathan you know just as well as I do that dad made the animatronics safe, why would I be afraid of them,” Michael responded to his brother, “They were my best friends as a kid, unlike you are your bullying.”

Claire rolled her eyes, “Perhaps you can argue later, we don’t have all night and Jim and I have to get back to Trollmarket before sunrise.”

Nathan looked at Claire for a moment before he smiled, “Why of course milady, although a lady such as you shouldn’t get their hands…” Claire gave the man a good smack with the new staff that Merlin made her. The man rubbed his head before he changed the subject, “The elevator is inside the building, take that down to the main room and you will get started. Mike, please listen to the hand unit’s instructions instead of you know…going off and doing your own thing.”

Michael nodded before he turned to Jim and Claire, “I introduced myself, but I have no idea who you two are, what are your names?”

“Claire Nunez.”

“James Lake Jr. but you can just call me Jim.”

Michael gave a smile, “It’s nice to meet you, please excuse my brother’s rudeness,” Michael glared at his brother for a quick moment, “He is deep down a sensitive guy, at least I think he is.”

Nathan rolled his eyes and left the three alone in front of an elevator. Jim could tell that the facility was underground since the small structure they were in had only one-floor aboveground. Jim looked over at Michael to see he was holding a sheet of paper with some checklist, the first thing on it is:

_Put her back together_

Jim started to wonder if this person they were working with was the culprit of the tampering. They walked into the elevator and the doors shut behind them after Claire came into what he heard Michael call a lift. Jim guessed the Afton brothers were British, but he only heard Nathan use the local dialect in his accent. The elevator started going down and a voice was heard.

**Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career. Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I’m a model 5 of the Handyman’s Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue, and endless janitorial opportunities.**

The voice seemed to be coming from the building’s speaker system, Jim could tell since he could hear it from both sides of the elevator. Soon a monitor came up with some letters came up. Michael approached it first and Hand Unit spoke once again.

**Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful**

Michael seemed to be frustrated with the screen, and Jim could see why. The letter kept changing, making it physically impossible to type any name in there. Michael tried to type in the letter M, but the Hand Unit spoke right after.

**It seems you were having some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. Welcome…Eggs Benedict.**

Jim and Claire couldn’t help but chuckle at the machine’s auto correct systems, that were apparently worse than any modern phone or computer’s autocorrect filter. Everyone has at least once had car corrected to a cat or vice versa, it was a common thing when Toby was texting about his Nana’s many cats.

“Hey, you just try to operate this thing yourself!” Michael yelled as he passed the screen over to Jim. Jim tried to type in his name but got a similar result to Michael’s attempt.

**Welcome…Young Atlas**

Jim was shocked that it called him by the nickname Mr. Strickler gave him. Jim honestly thought it would insult him by using the name Steve called him a few times, Buttsnack. Jim let out a sigh of relief that the machine didn’t give him a ridiculous name like what Michael got. Jim passed the machine over to Claire, who was able to get at least three letters in before the Hand Unit auto-filled it.

**Welcome…Shadow Dancer**

Claire was just as shocked as Jim was, it couldn’t be a coincidence that it used the nicknames they have been called in the past. Jim felt like there was something off about this place ever since he came here, something sinister was going on here and it seemed like the amulet made a tick in agreement to Jim’s suspicion. The silence in the elevator became more awkward as time progressed in the slow elevator and it seemed Michael was the first to break it.

“Umm…so why did my brother want you to work here?”

“He kind of accused trolls of tampering with some robots,” Jim responded as he rubbed his horns, he still wasn't used to them being there, “In which he wanted the Trollhunters to find who the actual suspect is, speaking of which what is that paper you have?”

Michael looked at the paper and sighed, “It may seem a bit…impossible, but my father who I thought was dead contacted me and wanted me to do these things. It seems confusing but he said I would understand when it was all over.”

Jim thought for a moment, Michael could have done any of this like he originally thought. It also seemed unlikely it was any of the technicians since they reported the problems in the first place. Something was going on down here and Jim was going to find out what it was. The elevator came to a stop that made Jim lose his balance momentarily. Hand Unit instructed them to push the red button to get out of the elevator and they followed the instructions they were given. There was a vent that they had to climb through, and Hand Unit spoke once again.

**Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter. Due to the massive success and even more-so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set – no pun intended – for another contender in children’s entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it’s your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning.**

Jim knew that would be Michael’s job to do, while Jim’s job was to find whoever was messing with the robots in the first place. The vent seemed to be big enough for even Aaarrrggg to crawl through, so it wasn’t even a struggle for Jim to find his way to what Hand Unit introduced as the Primary Control Room. Jim could see two windowed rooms that had an empty stage in them, he looked over to the left where Hand Unit said Ballora’s Gallery was and heard the robotic voice request.

**Let’s turn on the light and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left.**

Michael pushed the blue button, but Jim knew this Ballora was not on the stage. His eyes saw that there was no one on stage at all even in the pitch darkness there was in that room. What Hand Unit suggested next made Jim feel uncomfortable.

**Uh-oh, it looks like Ballora doesn’t feel like dancing. Let’s give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put a spring back in her step.**

‘ _A controlled shock? If the animatronics are only meant for entertainment, wouldn’t they be deactivated when they weren’t in use?_ ’ Jim asked himself. The same thing happened with Funtime Foxy, the robot didn’t come to the stage until he was given the controlled shock, ‘ _Perhaps they didn’t think to check the damage these shocks might have done, or they wanted to pin it on someone else._ ’

They were told to progress into Circus Baby’s Auditorium, where it told Michael to give the animatronic in there a shock three times before it claimed Circus Baby was where they were supposed to be. Jim found this treatment cruel, even if these beings were robots they were getting shocked when they were not even doing their actual jobs.

‘ _Or perhaps, that is what the place wants us to think,_ ’ Jim suddenly thought to himself. He could see into the room Baby was in, the animatronic had what seemed like faceplates and pigtails. The eyes were also green, which Jim remembered the ads for the company had Baby with blue eyes. The eyes also had another strange occurrence, they seemed to follow Michael’s movements almost as if it was observing the ginger-haired man they saw. It seemed more aware than Ballora or Funtime Foxy were in their rooms, Baby even acknowledged Jim’s presence for a few moments.

**That concludes your duties for your first night on the job. We don’t want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise, you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we’ll see you again tomorrow.**

Michael and Claire left, but before Jim could enter the vent it shut on him, he turned around to see that Baby was right at the window staring at him.

“It’s strange, seeing someone like you with people like them,” the pigtailed animatronic spoke, “You are not trapped in the dark like us, yet you are different.”

“What…what is going on here?” Jim asked he was ready to call upon his amulet at any time if these beings attacked.

“I am curious about you, don’t worry I will not hurt you,” Baby spoke with her child-like voice, “I just want to ask, how are you able to fit in up there? What are you, your skin is made of stone and not metal, you are…alive and organic somehow Blue?”

Jim pulled out his amulet, “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!” Jim spoke, almost instantly his armor appeared and latched itself on him, once the last piece was in place, Jim called upon his Sword of Daylight, “I don’t have to answer your questions so let me go.”

“I better see you again tomorrow night then, I hope you can keep the other man safe for me,” Baby said before she disappeared deeper into the darkness to the point Jim could no longer see her. The vent opened and Jim made his way to the elevator where Michael and Claire were waiting for him.

“Jim! What took you so long?” Claire asked Jim quietly.

“Something is wrong here, and I believe that our suspects are the attractions of this place,” Jim was uncertain of this, but there was something off about Circus Baby’s conversation with him, “We will have to look into this, but I think there is more to these animatronics than we originally believed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hand Unit Lines are taken straight from Sister Location, other than the names it gave Jim and Claire of course. The lines are from Night 1. Expect some lines from the game to be used in the future, these lines will mainly be from Hand Unit and Circus Baby with their dialogue that gives exposition for the game. 
> 
> The next chapter will be in Michael Afton's POV and will be posted in a couple of weeks, I will be busy next week so I won't have much time to work on the next chapter.


	3. The Father's Request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year prior, William Afton called Michael to request him to do a few tasks at Circus Baby. Now Michael is working under his brother there, but there is something off about the animatronics. Jim seems to notice it, but Michael is in denial of what is right in front of him. He also hears a familiar voice and begins to remember somethings that are better left forgotten.

At home, Michael was catching up with The Immortal and the Restless. His bucket of popcorn in front of him, he popped kernel after kernel into his mouth. ‘ _Tomorrow is a new day, I haven’t found what he was looking for, but I have a feeling I will eventually_.’

Michael remembered answering the phone the previous year to hear his father, William Afton, on the other side of the line. His father gave him vague instructions saying only Michael would be able to do these tasks.

“Next year, you must begin…and once you do…you have only five nights to finish these tasks. Listen to her instructions,” Michael repeated the words his father gave. It sounded like William was struggling to speak on the phone when Michael was on the phone with him, he would have asked what was wrong, but his father hung up on him.

‘ _You could have at least explained where you’ve been for the last twenty-eight years father when I find out where you are you better have a good explanation_ ,’ Michael thought to himself. When Michael got a call about their father’s supposed death, Michael was placed in his brother’s care. The same brother who was now his boss, also just as much of a jerk as ever.

 

Michael was glad to have company while he worked the previous night. The young man had felt tense all through the night there, it was almost like the animatronics his father made would attack him, ‘ _As if that will ever happen_.’

The sitcom soon ended on another unresolved cliffhanger once again. Michael found this irritating, ‘ _the kid is obviously Vlad’s, why does he keep denying it_?’

Michael decided it was about time he got some sleep; it was no use asking questions about an old sitcom that was reanimated for new audiences after all. Rest came easily to the young Afton for once, before he was so nervous that something would be hiding in his closet or the hallways.

‘ _The only thing in the closet is my plushies_ ,’ Mike reminded himself, ‘ _The ones I played with up till my…_ ’

‘ _My sixth birthday_ ,’ the thought came along with a chill down his spine. What happened on his sixth birthday? Michael couldn’t remember, yet he felt the terror of the day seep into his heart. ‘ _My first birthday without my big sister there, without Elizabeth_.’

Michael shook the thoughts from his head, he would have time to think about it later. He was exhausted, so he crept into his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

 

Michael came to work an hour earlier than he needed, but he needed to find a distraction from his thoughts. He couldn’t get his mind off of his sixth birthday, he could only vaguely remember that it happened at Fredbear’s Family Diner. The questions whirled around his head; he did his best to ignore them as he entered the elevator. He perked his head up, surprised to see that Jim was already waiting inside. The troll’s lady friend was nowhere to be seen, Michael assumed that it meant that tonight would just be him and the armor-clad figure standing in the elevator.

“So where is your girlfriend?” he asked the blue troll.

“Claire, she needed to stay behind in Trollmarket,” Jim responded nervously, “It will just be us tonight, Mr. Benedict.”

Michael groaned he was never going to let that nickname down was he, “Please, just call me Mike.”

Jim nodded in response as Michael pushed the button that would take the two down into the facility. During the trip, Mike noticed that Jim was clenching his fist and shaking. _‘This can’t be the same guy I met yesterday right?’_

**Welcome back for another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices and self-reflection on past mistakes. We’re committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of that commitment is ensuring that you don’t get tired of the voice that you’re hearing right now.**

“Past mistakes?” Mike asked out loud, “Dad never mentioned anything bad happening.”

Jim looked at Michael with a curious look, “How close were you with your father?”

“We used to be close, but something changed, he became more distant after…” Michael then remembered, Circus Baby killed his sister and his father seemed more invested in work after that.

**Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice. For male, press 1. For female, press 2. For text-only, press 3. For other options, press 4.**

“There are no numbers on this!” Michael said, he wanted to change the subject and Hand Unit gave him that opening to do it. Michael knew he wouldn’t be able to select the choices, so he typed random letters in.

**It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. thank you for choosing: Angsty Teen**

Mike chuckled at the fact that Edgy Teen wasn’t one of the options Hand Unit gave them. Jim seemed too distracted to laugh at the omniscient voice heard from the speakers of the place. The elevator soon slowed down to a stop and the doors opened.

**The elevator stopped. You know the routine. You can get out now or... whatever. You can stay here if you want.**

Michael was surprised the voice sounded so realistic, almost like it didn’t come from a robot. _‘These could be pre-recorded, I remember dad making tapes for nightguards at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, he said it was easier than being there to physically training them.’_

Michael went through the vent first, Jim following close behind. They were halfway through the vent when Hand Unit spoke up.

**So... funny story... a dead body was found in this vent once. Okay... not that funny. But it's a story!**

_‘Was that the strange noise I heard yesterday?’_ Michael asked himself, remembering the noise that made him and Claire jump as they left the facility. That was the moment they realized that Jim wasn’t with them, he still wondered what took the troll so long.

They continued, despite the dread they felt from hearing that someone died here. The only thing that mattered was getting out of that vent as quickly as possible.

**Ok, let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on Ballora and make sure she's on her stage but... whatever.**

“Ballora isn’t on the stage Mike,” Jim’s voice shook as he told him. Mike pushed the button to activate the light to be sure, he groaned when he saw that Jim was right. The stage was empty, just as Jim said it was. Yet there was the silhouette of Ballora that made him realize why Jim was so nervous. Ballora was right at the window, looking in on them.

**Huh, I guess Ballora has better things to do. Let's zap 'er! That should be fun.**

Michael thought nothing of this, they were just animatronics after all. He pushed the button to shock Ballora and Hand Unit made a garbled noise. He was unable to press the button to turn on the light to see if it worked.

**Let's check on Funtime Foxy, make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow.**

Mike looked over at Jim who stared into Foxy’s room, “Foxy isn’t on his stage either, he is right at the window,” Jim answered the question he was about to ask. Michael still pushed to button to confirm it.

“Ok, I am never underestimating your night vision again,” Michael said to Jim, “I guess I know what is next…”

**GREAT. GREAT. GREAT.**

“What the…I do not think that is supposed to happen,” Michael shuttered. The voice was garbled, but it was clear what it was saying. Michael once again shrugged it off, in absolute denial of what was right in front of him.

**There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored. Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby’s Auditorium.**

They entered the vent to soon emerge in Circus Baby Auditorium. This was the animatronic that killed Michael’s sister, scooped her in fact, and no one believed him except his dad. His dad said it was just a malfunction and he would fix it soon.

**Circus Baby had a busy day today! Let’s check the light, and make sure she’s in proper working order.**

Jim shook his head, signaling that Baby wasn’t there. Michael knew he still had to push the button to get Hand Unit to unlock the shock controls so he carefully pressed the light.

**Oh, Circus Baby, we aren’t here to play hide and seek. Let’s encourage baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock.**

Michael pressed the shock button, it didn’t work.

**Let’s try another controlled shock.**

He tried again.

**There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby. Please stand by, while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen. Commencing system restart.**

“Are you trying to kill us?” Jim asked the voice; it was too late at the time. The lights darkened as a female voice announced the vents opening one by one. It announced that there was motion in the Circus Gallery Vent.

"I don’t recognize you. You are new. I remember this... scenario, however. It’s a strange thing to want to do, to come here.” A girl’s voice spoke, Michael was able to recognize it as Circus Baby’s, after all, he heard her sing once, “I’m curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this... willingly. Maybe curiosity, maybe ignorance...”

“Or being accused of tampering with robotics, and I found our culprit,” Jim said, “The animatronics move on their own, somehow…”

“I do recognize you on the other hand since you were here last night. I enjoyed your company Blue,” Baby responded to Jim’s comment, “There is a space under the desk. Someone before you two crafted it into a hiding place... and it worked for him. I recommend that you hurry though. You will be safe there, just try not to make eye contact... it will be over soon. They will lose interest.”

Jim and Michael looked at each other and then to the area under the desk. It only had enough room for one person. Jim gestured for Michael to go in there, he didn’t know what to do in the situation.

“Blue, it’s best if you stay still,” Baby told Jim, “Close your eyes, they will not notice you if you pretend to be stone. The other should hide in the space under the desk, go quickly.”

Michael crept into the cramped space and closed the withered metal door and waited. He could hear Jim go onto the floor and position himself. The door started to be pulled open, panicking Mike fought back to close it back up. He could see through the holes when the Bidybaps were there, they could see him in there. Michael couldn’t run, there was no way out of the space other than the door he came through.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Jim was next to the vent that goes to the main control room. The Bidybaps looked him over and whispered, “This one is new, it isn’t like us…but she would see if we did anything”

Jim opened his eyes slightly, the two Bidybaps paid no attention to him as they went to the hiding space that Michael occupied. Jim was about to call upon Daylight when he remembered what Circus Baby said about staying still. He wanted to help Mike, but there was a chance Jim would make it worse if he tried to stop them. They often whispered to each other and tried to pry open the door, but Michael overpowered their efforts.

* * *

 

In the hiding space, Michael made a sigh relief when he heard the Bidybaps leave.

“When your "guide" comes back online, he is going to tell you that he was unsuccessful, that you must restart the system manually.” Baby spoke up before the silence became awkward, “He will then tell you to crawl through Ballora Gallery as fast as you can to reach the Breaker Room. If you follow his instructions, you both will die.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard, Ballora must have returned to her stage by…” Michael said to Baby before she interrupted.

“Ballora will not return to her stage anymore. She will catch you. The power will be restored shortly. When you crawl through Ballora Gallery, go slowly. She cannot see you and can only listen for your movement,” Baby continued, “When you hear her music become louder, she is growing near, listening for you. Wait, and be still."

Just as Circus Baby said when Hand Unit came online, he said that he was unsuccessful in his attempts and told Michael to return to the control room. He came out and Jim was standing up now.

“There is something very wrong going on here,” Jim said, “The AI on those things is way too advance to be just programming.”

Michael had to agree with Jim on this one, his father was great at making and programming robotics, but he could never make them think for themselves like this. Jim left the room first, leaving a confused Michael in the Circus Baby Auditoriums.

“Daddy, why won’t you let me play with her,” Mike heard a familiar voice say.

“No, that can’t be…it cannot be…” Michael told himself.

“Daddy, you let the other children go see her! Why won't you let me go?” the voice asked, “Daddy, just once let me go play with her! She's so pretty and shiny! Didn't you make her just for me? Daddy, she can make balloons! Have you seen her make balloons? Oh, daddy let me go to her!”

It was Elizabeth’s voice, Michael turned around and saw Circus Baby for the first time in ages. The eyes weren’t the blue Michael remembered baby having, these eyes were green. The same shade of green that made Elizabeth’s eyes shine almost like emeralds.

“Elizabeth?”

“Hey, are you coming?” Jim yelled from the vent. Michael entered the vent, unnerved by the idea that came to his mind. ‘ _What if Elizabeth is still here…inside the very being that killed her?_ ’’

Once Mike reached the main room, Hand Unit said to make their way through Ballora Gallery as quickly as possible, and that he was going to deactivate himself. Mike trusted the disembodied voice just as much as he trusted a snake not to bite him. He trusted Baby more, her advice did save his life as well as the Trollhunter’s after all.

Michael went in as quietly as possible to make it to the other side. Jim could quickly get to the other side without making a sound, unlike Michael who saw Ballora dancing right in front of him a couple of times. Michael had to use his hearing to know when he should stop and be still. Hand Unit made a complaint on how slow Michael was going, but he ignored the glitchy system and continued forward. It took a while, but he made it to the breaker room.

**You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily, until it is safe to reconnect.**

“I will keep watch, you do what you need to do,” Jim reassured him. Michael nodded and he started to interface with the control box. He started to hear a voice coming from nearby and Jim tapped his shoulder.

“I-I know you're over there somewhere,” it was Funtime Freddy. The voice was glitchier than he remembered it being, but he knew that he needed to disconnect midway through powering up the first room.

Then he heard Bon-Bon, “Everything is ok, let’s go back to sleep.”

Mike swept sweat from his head before he reconnected with the machine. He finished restoring power to the Circus Control Room before Jim felt that the danger was too intense. The process repeated a few times until Michael noticed something familiar about some of the rooms.

 _‘Is that my childhood home?’_ Michael asked himself as he stared at the observation rooms, _‘Why would dad connect this place to his house…wait I think I can guess.’_

He restored power to the areas knowing that Hand Unit would not let them leave otherwise. He ignored one of Jim’s signals during the last one, Freddy was right at Jim’s face when Michael disconnected for the last time. Jim summoned his sword, but Bon-Bon kicked in just in time to pacify the plastic bear animatronic to go back to his stage. Jim sighed loudly in what Michael could only assume is a relief for surviving that encounter. Michael could no longer deny what was in front of him anymore, that the animatronics were alive. They were killers who were buried deep underground, memories left to rust down here. Never to see the light of day, trapped down here and tortured with electric shocks.

 _‘I contributed to their pain, but why does their presence feel so…familiar?’_ Michael pondered quietly. His father’s main request popped into his head, “You must find them, and put them back together.”

* * *

 

In another realm, one ruled by nightmares and shadows, Wilson and Maxwell were working together on a portal out of the place they were trapped in, The Constant.

Maxwell was getting impatient, “I hope this time it will actually take us home, right pal, last few attempts took us to a deserted island and a town full of stuck up pigs!”

Wilson tightened another gear before he gave the former king a glare, “I am doing all the work on this portal,” Wilson turned away and continued working on the device before he continued, “You could be actually helpful by assisting others instead of bugging me all day.”

“What? Help Willow, Woody, and Wickerbottom gather food and supplies or do you want me to assist Wendy, Webber, and that godforsaken Wes in mining and farming?”

“Yes, as long as you are not bugging me by telling me to hurry up!” Wilson yelled. He felt his inner shadows start to surface as his anger boiled. He had to calm himself down, no one could know about what happened while he was on the nightmare throne. The things Wilson did to his only friends of all people especially, the shadows had a way to make themselves heard. They slowly twist a person’s goals and personality to their needs; Wilson did his best to fight their influence for as long as he possibly could. Sadly, they already rooted themselves deep inside the scientist, he was on the throne for a year before Charlie freed him (and then electrocuted him before dropping him back into the Constant).

Maxwell turned around, holding the Codex Umbra close as he walked away. Wilson appreciated the silence; he was able to finish the portal sooner that way after all. It was nearly done; it would just be another day before they could test to see if it really works.

“We are one step closer to leaving this place, and it is all because of my brilliance!” Wilson said to himself, “We won’t have to experience death over and over again, we will escape this nightmare.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to take place mainly in the Constant and will be in Wilson's Point of View. I posted this one today since I couldn't upload a chapter last week. So this week you get two chapters.


	4. Fighting Insanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilson has finished the portal, and they only need to survive one more night before they could go home. That night Wilson's shadow taunts him, causing him to go into the Constant's insanity.  
> The next morning, Wilson finds someone moved into his house during the years the Gentleman Scientist was stuck in the Constant. Whoever it was had a thing for robotics and left the place to collect dust and go into disrepair.

Wilson opened his eyes to see a makeshift campfire a few feet away being tended to by Willow. He got off the ground and went closer to the Firestarter, Willow was the only person who could keep Wilson from going insane in this hell hole, so her presence was a comfort. Willow noticed him and leaned on his shoulder gently.

“Did the jerk upset you Dork?” the fire was present in Willow’s tone of voice, “Don’t worry, he is probably dealing with Charlie as we speak.”

Willow chuckled, Wilson could only imagine that Willow set his tent on fire and Maxwell ran a bit too far from it. No one was content with Maxwell around, and only Wilson knew who was hidden inside the twisted man. Wilson saw it a few times, the times when Maxwell’s voice goes to a higher octave and is much kinder.

“He does kind of deserve it after making us go through hell alone for…well who knows how many years,” Wilson groaned, “The day cycle’s here are shorter than what we used to know, maybe if I never built that dam machine we would all still be home.”

Willow gave the scientist a light punch in his arm, “We would have never met then right? You are the only one who saw past my…obsession of fire. This is the closest thing I have ever had to a family; Wendy, Wickerbottom, Abigail, Webber, and of course you!”

Wilson blushed at his lover’s comment, the two have only been together for three world cycles. They had to make it to the one-hundredth day, to tomorrow, Wilson promised to bring everyone home. Tomorrow will be their last day in this place, no more nightmares and no more fighting their own insanity.

“Everyone is ready, but what if this doesn’t work,” Willow said, “We have never survived past day 105, we usually get killed by something or starvation by then.”

“It will work this time; it’s made in the same shape I made the one at my house after all.” Wilson responded quickly, “Last few times I made a toy ship and a hot air balloon, this time it has to work!”

They felt something draining them and realized that Maxwell’s ghost was right behind them. The two groaned a ghost’s presence drains a person’s sanity in this world. Sure, they had their gear but fighting terror beaks and other nightmare creatures was a pain. Wilson made a torch out of some spare twigs and grass and headed over to the storage area. _‘I have a few telltale hearts in here somewhere, which chest was it again?’_

“I’m working on it,” Wilson yelled at the dapper ghost, “Charlie killed you, didn’t she?”

“Ooooohhh,” responded Maxwell’s ghost, the tone of the wail told the Gentleman Scientist that Maxwell was irritated. Out of all the Survivors, Maxwell and Wes had the most trouble surviving the punches handed to them. Just don’t tell Maxwell that, the magician had a hatred for the Mime for some reason.

He looked in the last chest and found the telltale heart and brought it near the campfire. Maxwell followed him everywhere, waiting for the heart made from grass, spider glands, and some of the crafter’s health to be given to him. There was a penalty for resurrecting someone, but Wilson had some booster shots on hand for that, and some healing salve for any persisting injuries.

He used the heart on his former enemy once they got to the campfire, they needed everyone alive tomorrow to go through the portal. The few staying behind were from here, creatures like Wortox, Wilba, and Wormwood who have helped them along the way. Woody and Webber suggested that they stay too, but Wilson convinced them to come along. _‘If my theory is right, they should return to normal once they are back home, same with Lucy.’_

His eyes were heavy, how long has it been since he’s gotten some sleep? He has been working on the portal all day and night for the past few day cycles, the nearby firepit kept him from getting killed by Charlie.

“Seriously, do you think Charlie will let you leave?” he heard a voice say, it was his other self, “She hasn’t brought anyone new in, and you are tainted by this world. You belong here Wilson Percival Higgsbury, the shadows will not leave you.”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone for once!” Wilson raised his voice at his shadow, “I am no longer on that throne, so why are you still here?”

“Do you even know how long you were on that throne?” Triumphant Wilson asked only to answer, “You were on the throne longer than Maxwell was, you sat on it for ten years…eight years longer than Maxwell.”

Wilson shook his head, that couldn’t be right, it was only two years. He spotted a shadow opening the entrance to the beefalo fur tent, it was a terror beak, “Are you trying to make me insane?”

“Maybe, or it’s just you in complete denial making you insane,” if shadows could make expressions, Wilson was sure his had a smug grin. His shadow moved to touch his arm, the fingers grew and traced his veins until they no longer had their normal blue and red tones, “I am you, remember that…but if you insist I will let you go home. I wonder how you will react after all!”

“Shut up!” he yelled; the sound woke the sleeping Willow who was next to him. She held her lighter close and was ready to call her stuffed animal, Berny, at a moment’s notice.

“Wilson are you alright? You sounded panicked?” she asked. Her eyes expressed concern for him, he didn’t want to worry her.

“I…I am fine…I just need some sleep,” he lied. Wilson’s shadow was normal now, he did need sleep. He laid down and sleep came to him quickly, he needed this rest.

 

The next morning, Wilson gathered everyone to the portal for their farewells. The portal wasn’t activated yet, they didn’t want Charlie stopping them from leaving after all. Tears were shed by those who were staying behind and those who were leaving. Wilson’s hardest goodbye was to his faithful and loyal companion Otto von Chesterfield, Esquire. The dog-like chest had been with Wilson since the second day he spent here. He was going to miss the little fluffy storage chest that follows him everywhere.

When the farewell’s ended, Wilson pulled the lever and one by one the pieces went into motion on the machine that had a steampunk vibe to it. The gears whirled and steam came out of the pipes that released the pressure from the machine. The portal soon opened, revealing the place he was tricked by Maxwell, his house’s attic. The place had cobwebs and seemed in disrepair, but it wasn’t anything Wilson couldn’t fix after all.

He went through after everyone else did and was shocked to see that his house was used by someone other than himself. There were robotic parts scattered around and a high-pitched noise heard from some of them. These robots were nothing like WX-78, the robot was just as curious about the robotic pieces scattered around. ‘These haven’t been touched for a while, that is for sure.’

Wilson turned to the others, Webber still was part-spider and Abigail was still a ghost. That probably meant Wilson’s other self was still with him. He was upset that his hypothesis was wrong or was it just a personal hope of his that everything would return to normal if they got home.

His house had changed, there were more rooms for one. Two of the rooms were kid’s rooms, the doors read Michael Afton and Elizabeth Afton. His old bedroom now had a random withered fox mask with an eyepatch attached to it on the floor. He also saw another bedroom, a master bedroom from the looks of it. Newspaper clippings were on the walls speaking of children going missing, the year was what caught Wilson’s attention.

“1987, that is the most recent newspaper here, Security Guard found without his Frontal Lobe: Family Sues Fazbear’s Entertainment,” Wilson read out loud. Willow looked at the ones about missing children with worry.

“Will Webber and Wendy be safe?” Wilson’s wife asked, “What if this is still going on?”

“That’s why Webber and Wendy will stay here with the others, we need to figure out how much time has passed since we were dragged into the Constant,” Wilson said, he didn’t want to leave his adopted daughter, Wendy, but if there was something out there Wilson wouldn’t risk losing her. This world didn’t run on the rules of the Constant, when you die here you can’t come back.

Little does he know, there are those who always come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, this chapter is mainly to explain how our Survivors get back and where they find themselves. I originally planned for the previous chapter explaining how, but I felt as if that part was incomplete in doing that.  
> The idea for Wilson's house being turned into the Afton house came from the houses being in the middle of nowhere and in a forest.


	5. Parts and Service

Michael could tell something was off when he saw three people leaving from his childhood home. They didn’t look like robbers, _‘Well the tall one looks suspicious, trying too hard to be dapper I suppose. The other two just look out of place, especially the one with the poofy hair.’_

“Oh…hello there,” the poofer in the red vest said, “May I ask, what year is it?”

_‘Is this guy serious, I can take strange animatronics but people asking for the year like they have been living under a rock? I am not so sure.’_ Michael thought to himself, he came earlier to check on his childhood home after seeing that Circus Baby’s Rental was somehow connected to it. He didn’t expect some strangers to be hanging out in there.

The dapper one rolled his eyes, “Look what you’ve done Wilson, has it been so long that you’ve forgotten how to approach someone,” the man lowered his gaze to meet Michael’s, “So, Pal, it would be a great pleasure if you would tell us the date and year.”

Michael came out of his trance and responded, “It is September 10th, 2018. Also, why were you in my childhood home? Why even ask the year? Who the hell are you people anyway?”

The girl in pigtails was shaken by the answer, “We were trapped for that long! We were trapped for a century in that nightmare! Hey Wilson, can I burn the Magician now?”

The young Afton looked at the girl, she was serious about burning someone alive. The poofy-haired man, who the girl called Wilson, grabbed onto her arms to stop her from using the lighter she held while the tall man stepped back from them. Michael had no idea what was going on, the dapper man’s face did kind of look like the strange machine that was in the attic of the house.

“Willow, calm down, I think Maxwell has been punished enough for what he had done,” Wilson told the crazed Willow, “Remember the calming techniques I taught you, we do owe this young man an explanation.”

“I don’t think he would believe us, remember when I told you,” the magician said, “Your words were, ‘That is not scientifically possible’ and you even said, ‘this offends me as a scientist.”

“You were the one who used that book, William Carter!”

“Do not call me by that name! I am the Amazing Maxwell, not a pathetic excuse for a magician,” Maxwell yelled as he pulled a shadow from the book he held. Michael had seen some strange things the day before, but this took the cake. The arguing went on for a while, Michael stood there waiting for someone to clear his confusion.

“Hey, you two, stop fighting for goodness sake!” Willow said, “Sorry about that, I am Willow Ash. The dork is Wilson Higgsbury and the tall one is just Maxwell. You are?”

Michael struggled to get the words out of his parched throat, “I…I am Michael Afton…an explanation will be good, just make sure to keep it short,” he looked at his watch’s time, 8:30, “I only have a couple of hours before I have to start work.”

The two men broke up their sissy fight and turned from each other, Wilson went over to Michael and sighed, “It is a long story, but to sum it up…we were trapped in another realm known as the Constant, where at the time this tyrant ruled it.”

As they continued, Michael thought things couldn’t have been stranger in his life, talk of beefalo and deerclops beat the experiences he had the last few days. He had to cut them off in order to get to work on time.

“Sorry, but I have to get to work,” Michael responded, “I will be back tomorrow, hopefully.”

Mike left the three people without another word, he needed to keep his head as clear as he could to get through this night. Michael feared that tonight, he may not return home to catch the next Immortal and the Restless, or maybe the next night he will be unable to return. With what the young Afton has gone through the last few days, he was surprised that he even survived this long.

Wilson followed Michael during the short walk to the small building that housed only a couple of elevators. Michael wasn’t sure how to break it to the man with impossibly poofy hair, he tried to lose his follower to no avail.

He arrived at the building a solid thirty minutes early, and the Trollhunter was there without his partner once again. Wilson was still following, and the man made the armor-clad boy raise an eyebrow at Mike. Wilson screamed and pulled out a spear from his backpack, _‘How does he even fit that in there…in fact what is even in there?’_ Michael asked himself as he stared at the trembling scientist.

“Who is the new guy?”

“The name is Wilson Percival Higgsbury, but I’m sure anything from the Constant would know that!” Wilson remarked to the half-troll. Michael rolled his eyes and stepped between the two armed men to stop any needless fighting.

“Jim, this is Wilson, Wilson, Jim,” Mike gestured to each person, “Wilson has been trapped in a realm called the Constant for over a century. Jim is the Trollhunter, yes, Trolls exist, and he is half-troll.”

“Well, this explains why Webber, Abigail, Woody, and Lucy haven’t returned to normal,” Wilson examined, “I will need to find some way to eventually, I’m sure that people are not used to spider hybrids or werebeavers here.”

“They aren’t used to knowing trolls exist either,” Jim responded. Michael had to agree, when news broke out of man-eating trolls and a battle in a town called Arcadia a year ago, Michael couldn’t believe it either. Ever since he has seen a few trolls here and there at night, and it took him a while to accept this as the new norm of life. Wilson muttered something incomprehensible under his breath in response, but Michael couldn’t decipher the sounds he made.

“Well, anyways don’t you have things to do?” Michael asked, “It would be better if you’d not follow us to work, things get…rough.”

“I followed because I noticed that you were bleeding,” Wilson said, pointing to the cut on his shoulder. Michael didn’t notice it before, but he guessed he received the cut from the sharp tree branch he ran into. The gentleman reached into his bag and produced some kind of bowl, the contents smelled horrid and when the man applied the ointment Mike flinched in pain. After the salve was applied the wound disappeared and there was no pain felt in the area. Wilson finished he said his farewell and left them to start their third night at Baby’s.

The pair entered the elevator without another word, the night was already strange enough, and it was no use questioning the logic of items from another world after all. They just had to focus on getting through the night, not think about nightmares that can actually kill someone, although the idea was vaguely familiar to Michael.

_‘I will put you back together,’_ a voice in his mind said. The voice wasn’t his, but the words were familiar. An image of his childhood imaginary friend Fredbear came to mind, but the image twisted to a horrifying creature with sharp teeth and withered fur, the stomach was split by the same razor-sharp teeth and the claws were even sharper. It was an animatronic, one that looked familiar in fact, but his father wouldn’t make a thing like that…would he?

Michael came out of his thoughts when he felt a hand shaking him, “Michael, you were acting strange for a moment there. Is everything alright?”

“Oh, um, yeah everything is fine. I was just…thinking,” he responded to the worried Trollhunter.

**Welcome back to another pivotal night of your thriving new career, where you get to really ask yourself, what am I doing with my life? What would my friends say, and most importantly, will I ever see my family again?**

The questions were relevant to their situation, although Michael’s only family was his brother and possibly his dad. He only had a few friends in the past, but they suddenly stopped hanging out with him one day for some unknown reason.

**We understand the stresses of a new job, and we’re here for you. To help you reach a more stable and relaxing frame of mind, we offer several musical selections to help make this elevator ride as relaxing and therapeutic as possible.**

Hand Unit gave them some examples, but they knew that the choice would be made for them. Michael just hoped it wasn’t heavy metal or worse…autotune. The keyboard appeared and Michael tried to type in classical, but once he put in the letter c the machine glitched.

**It seems you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. Thank you for selecting:**

**Casual Bongos**

A sigh left both Jim and Michael’s mouth, the bongos were admittedly quite relaxing. Sadly, Hand Unit had to ruin the relaxing bongos for him.

**Now that your elevator experience has been customized to your needs, and you're thoroughly relaxed, it’s worth mentioning that due to your lackluster performance yesterday, your pay has been decreased by a substantial amount. Please enjoy the rest of your descent.**

 

Michael had to hold in his frustration, Hand Unit was definitely trying to kill them. Jim could reach the other end of Ballora’s Gallery without a problem, so the message was for Mike. The elevator ride was the worst one he had experienced because of that; he did have to pay his brother part of their rent now.

When the elevator slowed, Michael quickly made his way to the Primary Control room. Jim followed more cautiously; it was almost like the Trollhunter used his own fear to heighten his senses. The two knew the procedure from the last few nights, so Michael went over to Ballora’s panel and waited for Hand Unit’s instructions.

**Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today’s shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or may not be skilled enough to perform. It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy’s power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be an inefficient path forward, as we would need to allow six to eight weeks for recovery and physical therapy. You will need to reach the Parts and Service room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let’s check on Ballora first, and make sure she’s on her stage.**

Michael saw Jim’s fear, there was something wrong inside Ballora Gallery, but Jim refused to tell him what it was, so he ignored it and pressed the light anyways. The sight horrified him, Ballora was in five separate pieces on her stage with the Minirinas still dancing like nothing was wrong. Michael almost wanted to vomit at the sight, the limbs were contorted to be in positions impossible for a human. _‘This must be someone’s idea of a sick joke.’_

**Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Ballora Gallery. Let’s check on Funtime Foxy. It’s important to make sure she’s on her stage before entering.**

“Foxy isn’t on the stage Michael,” Jim told him. Michael nodded as he pressed the button to continue.

**Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium. There is no need to check on Baby tonight; please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Proceed directly to Funtime Auditorium.**

Michael still wanted to check on Circus Baby, he needed to be sure that Elizabeth was in fact still there after all.

“Jim, I am going to check on Baby,” Mike told the Trollhunter, “You can come if you want.”

“It’s best if we stick together,” Jim responded quickly. They crept through the Circus Gallery Vent and reached the room that Baby inhabits. Michael expected something to happen, but he didn’t hear anything. Then the idea came to him, _‘What if I go into the hiding spot, maybe she will do something then?’_

The space was still open from the night before, so Michael went inside the cramped space and closed the dented and rusted door behind him. Then he heard the animatronic’s voice.

“Did you know that I was on stage once? It wasn’t for very long…only one day,” Baby’s voice seemed saddened until she continued, “What a wonderful day, though. I was in a small room with balloons and a few tables. No-one sat at the tables though, but children would run in and out. Some were afraid of me, others enjoyed my songs.”

“I can understand why some are afraid, there are a lot of people out there who are afraid of clowns,” Jim interrupted.

“Blue, you interrupted me,” Baby told him sternly, “Where was I…oh right! Music was always coming from somewhere else... down a hall. I would always count the children, I’m not sure why. I was always acutely aware of how many there were in the room with me.”

_‘I don’t like where this is going,’_ Michael said to himself. The only day the animatronics were on stage was the day his sister died; he knew how this ended.

Baby took a moment and then continued, “Two, then three, then two, then three, then four, then two, then none. They usually played together in groups of two or three. I was covered in glitter. I smelled like birthday cake. There were two, then three, then five, then four.”

“Michael are you alright in there?” Jim asked.

“Yes, but I need to continue listening,” Michael responded, “I need to see…”

Baby ignored their conversation and even changed the topic, “I can do something special, did you know that? I can make ice cream - although I only did it once...”

“Elizabeth…was that what it was?” Michael asked in a whisper, hoping for his sister to answer.

“There were four, then three, then two, then one. Something happened when there was one. A little girl, standing by herself. I was no longer... myself. And I stopped singing,” Baby continued to reminisce, “My stomach opened, and there was ice cream. I couldn’t move, at least not until she stepped closer. There was screaming for a moment... but only for a moment.”

Michael couldn’t contain his grief, tears fell from his eyes as he started to sob, he was there. He saw the animatronic scoop his sister, _‘it wasn’t a malfunction, they were made to do that weren’t they dad?’_

“Then other children rushed in again, but they couldn’t hear her over the sounds of their own excitement. I still hear her sometimes. Why did that happen?" Baby asked. Michael knew who to blame for his sister’s death, his father said it was a glitch, that it was not meant to happen. William Afton made these things, his father made them to kill, and it disgusted Michael.

“Daddy isn’t watching. Don't tell daddy that I'm here. I've been wanting to watch a show too. I don't know why he won't let me come see you, you're wonderful! Where did the other children go?” those were Elizabeth’s last words, the words that he overheard as he kept a lookout for their father. He blamed himself for letting his sister go ahead with it, if he stopped her then she might have survived.

“Michael, are you okay,” the Trollhunter’s voice showed how worried he was, “It sounds like your crying.”

Jim slid the door open and saw Michael covering his face and sobbing, “It’s all my fault, Liz died because I didn’t stop her!”

Jim looked perplexed, but saw that the technician needed some comfort, “Did you know the girl who got killed?”

Michael nodded, “She was my big sister, had the same love for animatronics that my father had. Always asking to see his next project, he told us to stay away from them,” Michael raised his voice when he continued, “He designed these things, he made them killing machines, he killed her!”

Michael got out of the vent slowly, the pieces were coming together and the memories he once forgot came flooding back into his mind. The nightmare animatronics that hunted him during the nights before his birthday, his father must have made those as well.

_‘He put me back together, after I…but that’s impossible,’_ Michael thought to himself, _‘My brother and his friends put me into Fredbear’s mouth, and the jaw chomped down on my head and I…died.’_

Jim put a four-fingered hand on his shoulder to comfort him, Michael noticed and tried to calm himself down. He needed to know what else his father had done, and he was determined to stop this mess. He will still do what his father asked of him, it was his only option at the moment since the elevator wouldn’t work for him until he finished the job for the night.

Michael returned to the main room shortly after Jim, the blue troll’s armor was replaced with a blue hoodie and some jeans. Mike didn’t need to ask where the armor went since apparently it was magic it was better to not even question it. The vent to Funtime auditorium was open, but he expected Hand Unit to complain that they went to check on Baby and would have closed it off until it finished talking. Nothing of the sort happened, to his surprise the glitchy system didn’t seem to notice that they went to Baby’s room.

He let a sigh of relief out before he went into the next vent and continued cautiously. Foxy was probably the most dangerous animatronic here with it’s sharper teeth and all.

**Unlike Ballora, Funtime Foxy is motion-activated. For this reason, it’s important to keep the room dark, as to not accidentally activate her. You have been provided with a flash beacon. Use it if you need to get your bearings and to ensure you don’t bump into anything. However, use it as sparingly as possible. Proceed forward to reach the Parts and Service room.**

“I think that I should take it slow this time, let’s try to stay together,” Jim suggested. The room was dark, but Michael could see Jim’s blue eyes glowing in the dark. Jim would be able to find his way through easier than Mike would, the only source of light was the flash beacon that was given to him.

“So, can you lead me through then?” Michael asked quietly, “I can’t really see the button to activate this.”

“Here let me,” Michael felt Jim’s stone-cold hand search for the device’s button until he stopped, “I think this is it…but go left first before anything, I will go right.”

Michael guessed that Funtime Foxy was somewhere in front of him from Jim’s words. He followed Jim’s directions and went left until he felt it was ok to go forwards. Turning, he continued until he ran into something, he panicked and used the beacon.

“Watch it!” Jim yelled as he covered his eyes, “Why did they make that so bright!”

Michael responded after he realized he ran into Jim's horns, “Sorry about that, are you alright?”

“Well, I won’t be able to help you until my vision returns,” Jim snarled, a growl almost leaving the Trollhunter’s throat, “Otherwise I am fine, let's just continue alright!”

The two pressed forward, Michael decided to not use the beacon unless he felt like he needed to, which was a couple of time so far. Jim kept a further distance from him, using his other senses to guide him towards where the door might be. The final time Mike used the light was right at the door, he looked around for Jim. The Trollhunter was no longer close by from what the brief moment of light told him, but Michael needed to go into the room before Foxy could get to him.

Inside he saw Funtime Freddy, deactivated which would make Mike’s job easier. He didn’t have time to wait for Jim, wherever he was.

* * *

 

Elsewhere, Jim was trying to find his way to the Parts and Service room to no avail. He lost track of Michael a few moments earlier when he regained vision in his eyes. There was a vent with a scanner next to it in front of him, far behind him was Foxy and Jim looked around for anything to get him inside the room ahead. There was a keycard in arm’s reach to his left, and Jim reached then grabbed for it. Foxy was closer now, so Jim scanned the card.

_Access Granted_

**It seems that you have accidentally wandered into a restricted area. Due to your status as an honorary employee, you might be stuck here until a clean-up crew comes here. I estimate it will take until 6:00 a.m tomorrow to the same time the next day for you to be rescued.**

“Hello Blue, let’s have some fun.”

Something told Jim it was going to be a while until he was rescued, and he had to stay alive long enough to get that far.

* * *

 

Michael went closer to Funtime Freddy and Hand Unit began to lead him through the process he needed to do. He was instructed to press the button under Freddy’s right cheek, Freddy’s right as Hand Unit corrected right before Mike could press the left. He then had to press the other side before Hand nut instructed him to press the button next to the animatronic’s right eye. Afterward, he had to boop Freddy’s nose, once he did the faceplates opened and caused Michael to get spooked enough to take a few steps back before regaining his senses. The next step was to press the button on the underside of Freddy’s jaw to open the chest cavity, this time he was prepared for the plates to open with a loud creak.

_‘I think they might need to apply some oil to the hinges of the plates, they shouldn’t e making that much noise,’_ Michael noted. He needed to tell Nathan about it anyways since his brother owned this place. Hand Unit instructed Mike to remove the power module, it was a small disk with a blinking light on one end, the device emanated a high-pitched tone that irritated Michael’s ears slightly. He had to continue on with the repair if it was even a repair job. BonBon’s power module was next, but Michael couldn’t find the hand puppet on Freddy’s hand. In a panic he looked around for it, the bunny was moving to fast for Michael to press the button under its bow tie.

Press the large black button beneath Bonnie’s bowtie to release the power module.

“What do you think I am trying to do!” Michael raised his voice in frustration, his patience with the voice was growing thin at this point. Soon he finally was able to press the button and let out a sigh of relief.

_‘That took longer than I expected,’_ Michael thought.

Great job. You’ve acquired both power modules. This completes your tasks for the night. Please exit the building through Funtime Auditorium, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

_‘Now to just get through that hell again…but where is Jim?’_ Michael asked himself, it was his fault they got separated after all, _‘I’m sure he can handle himself, but for how long?’_

* * *

 

Baby was after him, and Jim had no way to leave this room now. The only ways in were the vents that on the other side could be the rosy-cheeked pig-tailed animatronic that has continuously taunted him during the however many hours Jim has been trapped in here.

“Let me IN! Blue let me in,” Baby would say, “I won’t hurt you; I promise.”

“How can I know you're telling the truth?” Jim asked, this animatronic hunting him has killed before and admitted it to two people. Even after facing Gunmar and Morgana, he still had a feeling that there would be even worse beings out there that he would have to face. He never imagined that he would be playing hide and seek with a robot ai, one that may be possessed worse than the time Morgana possessed Claire.

_‘Why does the possessed always want to kill me?’_ Jim asked himself.

“Shh, I need to go,” Baby said, “You will stay here, I am sure.”

* * *

 

Michael continued on through the Funtime Auditorium, stopping every so often to collect his bearings and use the flash beacon. It took for what took like forever until he reached the other end, he was surprised he couldn’t find Foxy anywhere. He was ready to enter the vent to leave when he felt something grab onto him, the hand wasn’t Foxy’s, but Foxy was somewhere else and the hand was too big. He tried to escape the creature’s grasp, to no avail. Foxy came out of nowhere soon after, and Michael’s vision went black.

_‘I am going to die…again.’_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long, this chapter went through three different versions until I was happy with the result. Well as happy as I could be with this chapter.  
> I was unsure about how to write the part Jim and Michael get separated. The first idea was because of the darkroom and Mike lost the flash beacon, but I remembered trolls have dark-vision. The second idea was...well...too ridiculous (basically the two run into each other and panic to run in opposite directions, it was too cartoony for this, and Foxy is motion activated so yeah they be deadso). The third idea is the one I stuck with, and it made the most sense in context.

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to update this whenever I finish a chapter. So I am not scheduling updates, they will just come whenever I finish.


End file.
